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News & Press Releases Latest Councilmember Tommy Wells Calls for Reform of Police “Papering”
News & Press Releases Latest Councilmember Tommy Wells Calls for Reform of Police “Papering” | Councilmember Tommy Wells Calls for Reform of Police “Papering” |
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| Written by Charles Allen | |
| Thursday, 05 April 2007 | |
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On Thursday, April 5th, Councilmember Tommy Wells introduced a resolution at Council calling to reform the burdensome requirements on Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers to personally take booking information on an arrested individual to court at 7:30 a.m. the morning after an arrest takes place – a practice commonly known as “papering.” Councilmember Phil Mendelson joined Mr. Wells in introducing the “Sense of the Council to Reform Police Court-Papering Requirements Resolution of 2007.” Councilmember Wells stated, “Too often, I hear stories of officers forced to sleep in their car when their shift ends but before they are required to go back on duty, on overtime pay, for the 7:30 a.m. papering call at court.” The current papering process is required by the MPD, the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, and District of Columbia Superior Court and takes officers off the streets, creates significant overtime costs to MPD, and puts an undue administrative burden on MPD officers - creating a system that hinders an officer's ability to make arrests. For the week of January 24 through January 31, 2007 alone, MPD reported that it paid 1,616 overtime hours dedicated for officers to comply with papering requirements for lock-up cases, approximately $90,000. MPD Chief Cathy Lanier testified at a recent hearing that overtime costs due to papering are over $100,000 per week. Over the course of a year, the papering process is costing the District nearly $5.0 million in overtime pay – an amount that could pay for at least 52 additional officers a year. “The cost of papering is taking its toll on the District – from the millions in overtime pay to the endless frustrations created for our police officers,” added Mr. Wells. Kristopher Baumann, Chairman for the Metropolitan Police Department's Fraternal Order of Police, said, “We commend the Council for pushing for reform. The papering process is not only a waste of resources and manpower, it is a safety issue for the citizens and officers of the District of Columbia. The process and its administrative burdens hinders the ability of officers to make arrests and keeps officers at the courthouse rather than on the streets where they can protect the residents of the District. We hope the Council will take swift action.” This Sense of the Council Resolution calls on MPD, the US Attorneys Office and the District of Columbia Superior Court to work together to develop a streamlined, less burdensome, and less costly court-papering process, benchmarked against neighboring and similar jurisdictions, to keep MPD officers in the field to protect and serve the residents of the District of Columbia. |
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